The NoteAbility tools and some of the most commonly used score
controls are located at the top and bottom of the score window.

Above the score there are two sets of controls. The upper row of controls is the Score Toolbar and
contains many of the tools and buttons that are essential to operate the program.
The lower row of controls is context sensitive and alters depending on the current activity of the user.

The controls in the Score Toolbar at the top of the score window consist of the Current Command display (which
indicates which image will be added), the NoteAbility Tool Palette (the 20 different tools that
are used for entering various kinds of images, for selecting images
and for text editing), playback controls, page controls (for shifting from one page
to another), controls for moving the Entry Cursor to
different measure, and beat locations, and buttons for some common editing actions.

Current Command

On the left side of the Score Controls is the Current Command.
This text field displays the sequence of characters that indicates
which NoteAbility image will be added next. Except when you are
using one of the text tools or entering text in a panel, all typing
done while the score is active will appear in the Current Command
field.

Since NoteAbility automatically directs your typing into this
field, it is not necessary to click the cursor in this text box
before typing. Also, after an image has been added to the score,
new typing will automatically replace the existing command with
the new characters. This means that if you are continuing to enter
the same image, you don't need to type anything, and if you want
to enter a new image, you can simply type the new command without
deleting the previous one. For a complete list of the NoteAbility
commands for various music symbols refer to the NoteAbility Command List

- You may also use the Note Palette or the Image List panel to supply the command rather
than typing it.

NoteAbility Tool Palette

The palette of NoteAbility Tools control the various
functions that you can perform with the program. When one of these
tools is choosen, the button is highlighted and the cursor is
modified to reflect the activity selected. The tools are contained
within a scrolling window with the most common tools normally
visible.

Currently in NoteAbility there are 27 different tools available
- they are:

Image

Tool

Description

Insert Image

For entering most musical images onto the page.

Move Entry Cursor

For re-positioning the Entry Cursor.

Selection

For selecting an image or a group of images on the score.

Select Score

For selecting a segment of the score (along a single staff or on multiple staves).

Measure Text

For entering and editing text (affixed to the measure and staff). The majority
of text entered in your score is entered with this tool

- The Graphic Beams tool, the Multiple Measure
rest tool, Graphic Slur tool, and the Tuplet tool should only be used only when graphical
versions of these images are required. Normally, multiple measure
rests are created by the Measure Rests menu item, tuplets are
formed automatically when tuplet note and rest values are entered
in the score, beams are created either automatically as notes
are entered or with the Beam Notes menu item, and slurs are created by selecting notes
and clicking on the Slur Notes button.

Playback Controls

For convenience, Playback controls are included at the top of the score - they also
appear in the Playback Controls pane of
the Music Images Panel. The first of these two buttons
causes the score to play from the beginning, while the second button
causes the score to play from the measure that the Entry Cursor is currently in. While
playing, the button you clicked changes to a Stop icon -- clicking the button
during playback stops the performance.

Whatever tempo, tempo map, playback map has been set for the score will be used
during playback. While playing, a view appears below these controls with
miniature buttons which can be used to stop or pause playback or alter the tempo.

Page Controls

The Page Controls allow you to move to a different score page.
The left and right arrows shift to the previous or next page,
while the scroll bar allows you to jump quickly to another page.
You can also change pages by entering the page number in the Page
text box and typing Return. There are also menu items in
the Format menu (and the shortcuts Command-< and Command->)
which move you to the previous or next page.

Measure and Beat Controls

The Measure and Beat Controls show the current position of
the Entry Cursor and allow you to move the Entry Cursor to different
measure and beat locations in the score. The left and right arrows
shift to the previous or next measure or beat. You can also move the
Entry Cursor to a specific
measure or beat position
by entering a number in the Measure or Beat text boxes and typing
return. If the measure is on a different page, the score will
jump to that page. The second measure text box shows the measure number of the
specified measure (since measure numbers may not conform to the actual number of
measures in the score. In the example above, the Entry Cursor is on beat 1.25 of the
16th measure of the score which is measure number 45 (since the first measure of this particular score is 29.)

While these controls can be used to move the Entry Cursor around the score, it is
usually faster to move around the document
using the Space-bar or Shift-Space bar which move the Entry Cursor
to the next or previous beat position or to drag the Entry Cursor by grabbing the rectangle
along the right side of the Cursor.

- Regardless of the page number or measure numbers
displayed on the score, the Score controls consider the first
page and first measure of the document to be 1.

Editing Shortcuts

Some of the most commonly used editing functions have button shortcuts on the score toolbar:

Insert Rest button - can be used to enter a rest of the same duration as the note value indicated in the current command.
If the Current Command is q a quarter rest will be inserted, if the Current Command is e an
eighth rest will be inserted, and so on. (alternative: Command-r)

Jump Cursor Back button - can be used to cause the Entry Cursor to jump back to its previous location. This is
useful when chords are being entered. (alternative: Command-g)

Slur Notes button - can be used to create a slur above or below selected notes. Slurs entred using this button are
connected to the notes and adjust automatically as the notes are adjusted. (alternative: Command-spacebar when it is the hot button)

Tie Notes button - can be used to create a tie between selected notes. Notes must be in the same voice and
be the same pitch in order to be tied. (alternative: Command-Shift-T)

- The small red circle in the Slur Notes button indicates that this
button is the current "hot button". The "hot button" can be activated by typing Command-spacebar rather
than by clicking on the button. Almost all buttons
in NoteAbilityPro have a a small circle (usually in the top-left corner) which can be enabled
causing that button to be the new "hot button" - the previous button will no longer be highlighted.

Customizing the Score Toolbar

The Score Toolbar can be customized by either choosing
the Customize Toolbar... item in the Windows menu
or by Control-clicking the toolbar. A number of buttons such as a page setup
button, a print button, a color panel button, can all added to
on the Score Toolbar. As well existing tools can be removed. Since the NoteAbility Tools and
the Current Command are not available elsewhere in the application,
you should not remove these items from the toolbar.

Some of the additional toolbar items are shown below:

Context Dependent Controls

Below the Score Toolbar there is another row of controls which alternates between 3 sets of controls
depending on whether you are entering notes, editing the score, or playing the score.

When you are entering images in the score, the following controls are available:

Current Voice

Normally in NoteAbility there are three voices permitted per
staff. When notes (or chords) are entered in one of these voices,
their default stem direction is set to be:

stems up or down depending on the pitch or on the pitches
of the beam group

stems in an upward direction

stems in a downward direction

To switch voices in the score, click on one of the three Voice
radio buttons. All images entered with the mouse, the on-screen
keyboard, or using a MIDI keyboard will belong to the voice set
with these controls.

It is possible to flip the stem direction of notes regardless
of which voice the notes belong to. However, these notes and chords
will revert back to their default direction when the images are
adjusted.

- It is important to remember that all notes entered
into the same voice at the same beat location are formed into
chords. If you want notes (or chords) at the same beat location
to have separate stems, they must be entered as different voices.
Most music can be entered using the first voice, and other voices
are normally only necessary when two or more separate voices are
written on one staff.

Note Palette

Some of the common note values are available in the Note Palette. Clicking on one these buttons loads the
appropriate character into the Current Command. For example if you click on the eight note button followed
but the dot button, the Current Command will be "e." while if you click on the sixteenth note button, the Current
Command will be "s". Note also that if you type a command (such as "w" the appropriate button (in this
case the whole note button) will be highlighted.

Accidental Palette

The accidental palette allows accidentals to be applied to the last entered note (or any collection of notes selected with
either the Selection or Select Score tools). These buttons are shortcuts to the Modify / Accidentals menu items.

Tuplet Controls

To engage triplets, quintuplets or any arbitrary tuplet grouping, click on these radio buttons.

When
any tuplet grouping is engaged, the Entry Cursor is altered so that the tuplet value is indicated
in the Entry Cursor.

This helps to remind you to turn off the tuplet setting after you have finished entering it.
(Command-e can also be used to clear the tuplet setting.)

- The tuplet value must be set before notes are entered. It is not possible
to enter notes as eighth notes and then to modify them so that they are triplet eighth notes.
Click on the triplet button before entering
the notes -- this will ensure that they are positioned correctly in the score and that they
will have the correct playback duration.

An Insert Rest button and a Tie Notes button are also include in this collection of controls.

Score Panels

There are four small buttons which bring up drawers on the left side of the score. These panels are used for the
following purposes:

Tracks - for setting and all the playback characteristics for your score

When editing the score (i.e. the Selection or Select Score tool has been choosen), the following controls are
available:

These popup menus are duplicates of the menus found in the Modify menu, but are positioned here for
ease of access. As well, a Slur Notes button and a Beam Notes button are positioned beside
the pull-down menus.
For information on these menus, refer to the Modify Menu.

When you are playing back a score, the following controls are available:

There are miniature buttons for stopping or pausing playback, a tempo slider and
tempo display for adjusting tempo during playback and counters which display both elapsed time and
the measure and beat currently playing.

Playback counters can also be added to the main Score Control area using the Customize Toolbar... menu mentioned
above. These counters will retain the score playback duration and ending playback position after the score has
finished playing.

At the bottom of the score there are buttons and controls for the following actions:

changing the document view size, (between 25% and 250%)

switching between single-page and multi-page display

causing the music on the current page to be formatted

enabling or disabling MIDI input to this document

enabling or disabling speech recognition commands

turning the Entry Cursor on or off

turning on or off the auto increment feature of the Entry Cursor (normally the Entry Cursor will advance to the next beat
position after entering a note or rest)

turning on or off the auto page turn feature (normally when you reach the end of the page, the score moves to the next page)

enabling or disabling a metronome during score playback

locking the positions of stems and beams in the current score

optimizing playback so that the counters and playback markers are more accurate

displaying the last change to the score (that can be undone)

undoing or redoing the last change to the score

bringing up the Help files.

When enabled, the playback metronome will play a note on each beat of the score using the instrument set on the DLS channel 1. The first beat of each measure is accented.